Monday, June 24, 2013

We have a very special challenge this week! One of our special followers volunteered to co-host a challenge. Jez is a regular participant in the challenges here at Inspiration Avenue. Let's start with her own autobiographical introduction.

Hello, my name is Jez, and I'm so happy to be your co-host
for Inspiration Avenue this week. If you have seen my blog here,
you will know that I love drawing, painting, collage and anything artistic.
Although my major subject for my art degree was sculpture, the fact that
I live in an apartment limits this activity. At the age of 78 I no longer
sell any of my creations. I spend my days making art for pleasure and
enjoyment, hoping that what I share on my blog gives other people some pleasure
too. It's been fun drawing and painting the examples below to introduce
this week's theme of 'Outfits for All Occasions', so be as free as you like
with your interpretation of the theme and have fun too.

BEDTIME FOR TIRED LITTLE TEDDY BEARS

Brother and
sister teddies have been bathed and dressed in their new nightclothes ready for
bed. I did the drawing on smooth cartridge paper with a brown Pitt
Artist's pen, and then painted it in Photoshop.

READY FOR THE CATWALK

My drawing of this hopeful young
model was created with Pitt Artists pen on white card and the archway painted
with red marker pen. I coloured the floor and yellow wall on Photoshop to
get a smooth background to act as a foil for her jazzy outfit, which she chose
specially for her visit to the fashion show. I hope she gets the prize as
the best-dressed member of the audience. The notices on the wall were
also added on Photoshop.

BEST CLOTHES ON FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Old
photographs are so interesting to use in collages and montages. The sweet
bride in her beautiful dress and veil was my husband's mother, Gertrude, on
that very special occasion for her and her new husband in 1929. For the
two childhood photographs she has been dressed by her proud parents in her best
outfits.

IT'S SHOW TIME!

When we
went to see the Niagara Falls many years ago, we visited a huge conservatory.
A few moments after we entered, a young woman came in, wearing ballet
clothes. She put a tape in her cassette player and danced to the gentle
classical music as we watched from a balcony. Just us and the dancer.
A magical memory. I painted this imaginary dancer in
watercolour, with coloured pencil for the floor. Here she is, ready to
take her place on stage in the leading role.

SUMMER HOLIDAY

The gorgeous lady in my collage is
called Millie. She's spending her summer holiday at the seaside, and has
bought lots of new clothes specially for her trip. She loves paddling in
the sea, but is careful not to let her new two-piece swimsuit get wet. I
drew Millie on the reverse side of an A4 sheet of coloured card, and for her
swimsuit I photocopied some fabric I've had for about 35 years. Luckily
the pattern on the fabric was just the right size. Her swimsuit, shiny
black hair, gold bracelets and flower were stuck on, and the whole image glued
to a piece of A4 blue card, with tissue paper for the 'sea'. I've written a special tutorial showing how Millie was created. It's on my blog here.

I remember
the days when young housewives were encouraged to dress perfectly, even for
housework, with a pretty apron that could quickly be whipped off if a visitor
arrived. This photo of a mother and daughter dressed in their crisp
outfits ready for the dusting is from a vintage book called "Gifts You Can
Make Yourself - Illustrated". The picture made me smile and because
it reminded me of the film 'Stepford Wives' so I added the mother's words to
suit the period.

I hope you find some inspiration in
these examples. It's going to be fun visiting all your blogs to see what
interesting ideas you come up with for the theme "Outfits for all
Occasions".

Monday, June 17, 2013

A few facts on the beautiful Audrey,Audrey Hepburn is an actress known for her famous long neck and her
graceful petite figure. She has featured in many films. Her best
known films are Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Roman Holiday (1953) and
My Fair Lady (1964). She was nominated for the Oscar awards four times
and won best actress for the Roman Holiday.

The Gentoo Penguin found on the Antarctic Islands can swim 40 km per hour.

THE BEST TALKER

Ramona Smiers (Fotolia.com)

The African Grey Parrot has been called

"the perfect mix of brains and beauty" (Bird Talk, Aug. 92)

Many cases have been documented of African Greys

learning multiple lines of songs, prayers, or plays.

THE BOSSIEST BIRD

The Kea from New Zealand is the only bird
known to
have a society in which the higher status individuals
force others to
work for them.

THE MOST UNUSUAL?
It's impossible to determine the most unusual bird,
but the common Tailorbird is aptly named.The Little Tailorbird uses its sharp beak to pierce holes along
the
edges of two leaves. It then constructs a nest by neatly stitching
the
leaves together with pieces of grass.

OR IS THIS THE MOST UNUSUAL?

The Quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala, has a
tail which reaches up to three feet in length.

These superlative birds are inspiring and exciting.

But there are so many common birds we see every day
that are every bit as inspiring. We have a little brown
Carolina Wren that visits our yard and likes to hang out and
sing to us with his perky little personality. He even
likes to talk to our cat as he sits on the window sill.
(the cat is not impressed, and even gets a bit nasty about it)

I can't wait to see what you will create
for our challenge this week which of course is

Monday, June 3, 2013

nau·ti·cal/ˈnôtikəl/

The challenge ends next Sunday at 12:00 noon EST. After posting your
entry, please leave a comment. Your entry will link to your blog so
others can visit. We love it when you link back to Inspiration Avenue
to encourage others to see all of the entries.
Thanks for visiting us!Shel